Come Friday and every week, I feel a little smaller and humbler. And a little ashamed at my own ‘perceived ‘ problems and stresses. It is the day I go to the Tata Memorial Hospital and see suffering, pain, anxiety , hope, courage and the will to live despite all odds.
So I think I have aches and pains? I am confronted with those who go through chemotherapy and feel weak beyond belief and still find the strength to smile and walk to the nearest bus stop or train station. They are the ones who never break a queue and will gladly give up their seat when they see someone suffering more than them.
So I think I am losing my hair? I see women losing their hair and wearing their baldness as the badge of a survivor . And see them don fancy head scarves and looking more beautiful than any woman with thick lush hair could ever look.
I think I am fat? I see people too skinny or overweight as they fight the cancer and its debilitating treatment. Weight is the last thing on their minds.
I think I want more money and another holiday perhaps? There are those who borrow heavily from the bank and their friends in order to fight the cancer. Bearing the intense heat of chemotherapy, they lay on the floor or in the general ward , with an indifferent fan circulating the air. Many cannot afford the really expensive life saving injections or medicines and their treatment takes longer.
I think I deserve better service coz i am educated or have pots of money? It does not matter - because the disease hits everyone equally and nothing reduces the suffering.
I see stressed families doing all they can to help their loved ones fight the disease. How they put life on hold to ensure that their loved one is healthy once more. I see compassion in the eyes of doctors and attendants who empathise with what their patients are going through.
And I feel so so small. What in life do I have to crib about? I have a great family, loving husband, gorgeous kids and a close bunch of friends I can rely on for anything. I have not lacked for much in this life. I am healthy. And my own issues seem so small ...and I feel so pathetic.
There is so much I learn from these weekly visits - about learning to love life as it comes, about being grateful for everything each day brings, of not planning too much for the future, about smiling through any problem and being positive about everything in life.
Above all , I learn gratitude...and count all my blessings.
2 comments:
Well, If you realised yr blessings and realised well, then in times to come your count to your blessings will go on. So in Gurbani its Said 'Inhi Ki Kirpa ke saje hum hein, Nahi moh se garib kror Parae' (means - Its because of his, Almighty's blessings, that I am so established and in well being - otherwise there are millions so poor, so deprived).
Post a Comment